Any frugalista knows that you should purchase your gift wrap and holiday paper during post Christmas sales to stock up for the year. At many of the Hobby Stores and Pharmacy chain stores, you can easily find it for 75% to 90% off. This can easily save you $100 to $200 in gift wrap costs for the year.
But what do you do when have run out of gift wrap or (gasp) didn’t make it to the post Christmas sales? You find free options around your home for wrapping gifts. Here are some things you can try.
Use your origami skills to make pretty gift boxes. For small gifts such as jewelery, I just grab a bit of colored paper and go to a YouTube video that shows how to make a quick and easy gift box.
Recycle gift bags to wrap gifts for others. Numerous pretty gift bags come into my house each year holding gifts from other people. I quickly collect these bags, and sometimes attractive boxes and store them in my gift wrap drawer. At most, I will have to remove the gift tag from the bag. If the bag has a rip or puncture, that can be fixed with some tape and a strategically placed bow.
Use newspaper to make attractive gift wrap. Newspaper funnies always makes great gift wrap, but even the written pages can work too when topped with a pretty ribbon. If you are going to use newspaper, you need to do a very good job of wrapping to make the best impression, and then perhaps use large stamps in black to add to the design.
Use fabric to make great wrapping paper. You can use an attractive scarf, unused handkerchiefs, or cut extra fabric into large squares and use them to wrap your gifts.
Use Paper bags to wrap your gifts. Paper bags of all sizes make great gift bags. Lunch bags are perfect for small to medium sized gifts. You can fold the top down punch two holes and thread a ribbon through. Make the gift more colorful and personal with the addition of rubber stamps and acrylic paints.
~Andrea Hermitt writes for parenting (specifically teens), the home blog, and also the frugal blog, and homeschooling at families.com.
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